


Room for Improvement

by Esselle



Series: Thirst [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Birthday Fluff, M/M, Surprise Party, very minor omegaverse details
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-18 18:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13106202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Esselle/pseuds/Esselle
Summary: '"SURPRISE!"Kageyama jerked in shock, knocking one of the bags off the table. He spun around, eyes wide, and Lev, still yelling bloody murder, launched the ball of crumpled streamers directly at him. It bounced off Kageyama's nose."Ow."Shouyou held up his hands, weakly. "Happy birthdayyy…" '--To Kageyama,havingbirthdays is nothing new. It's thecelebratingpart that he isn't expecting.





	Room for Improvement

**Author's Note:**

> After much deliberating over how and where I should write this boy a fic for his birthday, Thirst it was! Happy birthday, Tobio ^^ (AO3's timezone window really sucks but I posted this *long* before the 22nd was up on my end -.-)
> 
> This is set in a medieval-ish setting, and the main story is omegaverse -- Hinata is a Wolf (alpha) and a blacksmith, and Kageyama is a Lamb (omega) and his apprentice. Neither of those things really play a role in this fic, but they are still probably necessary backstory XD

Now that winter had arrived, the village was bustling again, familiar faces returning home from the city to spend the holidays with loved ones.

Kageyama's birthday fell right in the midst of everything—what better time, Shouyou thought, than to plan a party for him? It would be a complete surprise; he'd made sure to tell every person in the village the date, time, and not to breathe a word of any of the plan to Kageyama, or he'd set Red the rooster loose in their home while they slept.

December the twenty-second had arrived with Kageyama none the wiser. Shouyou had woken before him, and instead of getting out of bed he'd… just looked.

Shouyou had heard the romantic assertions; that the face of the one you loved in sleep was closest to that of an angel's, unlined, unconcerned; peaceful and lovely as they weaved cloaks of dreams.

This was definitely a lie.

Kageyama sleeping, truth be told, was not so different from Kageyama awake. Shouyou had learned this long ago, when they'd first met. It wasn't just the nightmares; those had mostly faded, but Kageyama still grit his teeth in his sleep, and he muttered angrily sometimes, and his brow creased downward until his whole forehead was wrinkled. And Shouyou would rub the hinges of his jaw until it relaxed, and sleepily reassure the Lamb that all was well through his mumbled accusations of "Red and the baker… married… didn't send us so much as an invitation…", and kiss the lines between Kageyama's eyes until they'd gone and he was snoring again. And he never minded that sometimes, he got a little less sleep for it.

The thing was—to Shouyou, Kageyama _was_ beautiful when he frowned. He was oddly lovely when he was irritable; and when their eyes met, Shouyou's heart still hammered in his chest, whether Kageyama was grumpy or smiling.

Kageyama was Kageyama, and he was perfect that way, no matter what anyone else thought.

But old scars only faded, never quite disappearing. Kageyama understood better now, but it was still hard for him, to just accept all of how Shouyou felt without question. And that was alright, because Shouyou knew he felt _a lot,_ quite clearly more than Kageyama had ever experienced directed at him from someone else. It would take a little bit longer than a few months to overcome the previous two decades. But they were both learning a little bit at a time.

Shouyou had learned that when Kageyama slept, he could look at him all he wanted, and it didn't cause the Lamb any embarrassment or discomfort, no matter how long he stared unabashedly. The new bed Shouyou had built was pushed up against the wall across from his bedroom window, and the sun edged through in the mornings, falling across the bed in pale beams during the winter. One happened to fall across Kageyama's face, and he twitched his nose. It was past time to wake him, but… not yet. Maybe Shouyou wasn't giving Kageyama quite enough credit—he could look a little angelic in his sleep, sometimes. If Shouyou squinted.

When his eyes, disturbed by the light, finally opened, Shouyou smiled at him.

"About time," he chided. "Do you have any idea how late it is?"

"Why didn't you wake me, then?" Kageyama grumbled, voice gravelly. Shouyou's smile grew.

"Shouldn't I let you sleep late on your birthday?" he asked.

Kageyama blinked at him. "That's today."

"It is, yes," Shouyou confirmed, wondering if Kageyama hadn't quite woken up yet.

"Today's my birthday."

"Unless you told me the wrong date when I asked you," Shouyou said.

Kageyama sat up abruptly. "Ah," he said stiffly, "yes. Can't be helped, I guess."

Shouyou propped himself up on one elbow. "If you're referring to the date on which you were born, then no, it really can't be."

"Right," Kageyama nodded. "I'm starving—" He tossed back the blankets and made to get out of bed.

"Tobio, wait!" Shouyou said. Kageyama froze at his command, and he winced. "Sorry… I just, um…" This was not exactly the kind of tender morning wake-up he'd imagined. "Can you come back here? For just a second."

He made sure to phrase it as a request, and if Kageyama had wanted to, he could have ignored it. For a moment, he didn't budge. Then, slowly, he angled himself to face Shouyou again. Tentatively, Shouyou leaned into him.

"Happy birthday," he said, followed by a kiss. He tried to pour every ounce of reassurance into it that he could.

Kageyama's shoulders relaxed, slightly, and Shouyou found his hand where it rested in the sheets. His fist was clenched. Gently, Shouyou eased it open, sliding Kageyama's fingers through his own.

But Kageyama pulled away again before the kiss could deepen. "Thanks," he said. "What do we have planned for today?"

Shouyou tilted his head and smiled. "Well, I hope you weren't thinking of getting off lightly. We've got some tight deadlines to stick to, so I'm going to need you to run some errands for me."

"Sounds good to me," the Lamb said. "But, breakfast first."

If Shouyou had expected Kageyama to argue with him, to prefer to be idle that day, he'd have been disappointed. But he knew him too well, by now, to assume that Kageyama would even think of being lazy just because it was his birthday. And he now had the sense that something was bothering the Lamb, though he didn't know what, yet. Kageyama was acting strange, but that wasn't very unusual. Shouyou would just have to figure out why.

"Breakfast first!" he agreed, excitedly. He ushered Kageyama into the kitchen, determined not to let him cook, or even see any of the ingredients.

Even if Kageyama wasn't thrilled about it being his birthday, he _would_ be thrilled with the fancy food Shouyou had managed to get his hands on for their first meal of the day, unbeknownst to him. Of that, Shouyou was certain.

*

It was no secret to anyone in the village that Shouyou loved a good party.

He was often the first to arrive, usually in time to help with setting up; and the last to leave, occasionally tripping over his own feet from being at the mead a bit too enthusiastically. His presence was one that brightened the celebration, making it even livelier than it would have been in the first place. And Kageyama's party would be a rousing success, he'd make sure of it.

He'd sent Kageyama out on plentiful errands that morning for a reason. Primarily, it kept him out of the house—and the townsfolk had even agreed to help; closing their shops for a certain amount of time on the pretense of being "out" so that Kageyama had to circle the town in a rather roundabout fashion. The plan was to keep him occupied at each store for as long as possible, which gave the group gathered at Shouyou's forge ample time to finish getting everything ready.

Unfortunately, Shouyou wasn't very good at _planning_ parties, a fact he was sorely reminded of that afternoon.

"Where are the streamers?" he muttered to himself, staring about the forge. He wanted those ready in plenty of time before Kageyama returned, to make sure they were properly arranged. "Lev! What are you—stop playing with Red, I need you to get the streamers up, you're the only one tall enough—"

"What streamers?" Lev asked. He was sitting cross-legged on the floor and being of absolutely no help to anyone, including Red, who was trying to escape the tall soldier's grasp.

"The streamers for Kageyama's party," Shouyou said, teeth grit. Now was not the time to get annoyed, everything was going great, he told himself. "The blue ones?"

"No one gave me any streamers," Lev said with a shrug.

Shouyou gaped at him. Lev was supposed to have gotten the streamers from Kuroo, who was supposed to be picking them up from the Tsukishima brothers at the library, where they would have been dropped off the night before by the baker, after Shouyou…

Shouyou closed his eyes. He was meant to have asked the baker's wife about the old festival streamers they had in storage, which was how everyone else was supposed to have known what to do with them. But he had, of course, forgotten that one crucial step.

 _"Right,_ " he said. "Okay, we should still have a little bit of time before Kageyama heads back, so—"

The door to the forge banged open, and the baker's young son rushed through it, a wad of streamers bunched in his hand. "Smith!" he yelped. "He's right behind me! He said he forgot to bring along the bellows he borrowed from papa and wanted to return it before he forgot again!"

"Kageyama, you ass!" Shouyou swore. "Streamers!" The boy tossed them to him, and he caught them and lobbed them to Lev. "Everyone, hide! We'll just—"

But when the boy had said "right behind him", he'd meant it.

The door creaked open, admitting Kageyama, balancing several bags worth of goods in his arms, piled so high he couldn't see over them. Shouyou put his finger to his lips, and every person in the room stayed deathly quiet, as Kageyama fumbled his way inside, kicking the door closed. As he turned around to set his bags on the table next to the door, Shouyou held his hand up in the air, counting backwards from _three… two… one._

_"SURPRISE!"_

Kageyama jerked in shock, knocking one of the bags off the table. He spun around, eyes wide, and Lev, still yelling bloody murder, launched the ball of crumpled streamers directly at him. It bounced off Kageyama's nose.

"Ow."

Shouyou held up his hands, weakly. "Happy birthdayyy…"

Kageyama stared around the room, the half-finished decorations, the gang of villagers milling about. It was hard to say who was more caught off guard.

"Is this… why everyone's been acting so strange today?" Kageyama asked. He looked at Shouyou. "Did you send me out to get all this stuff so I wouldn't know?"

"Um, well," Shouyou said, "yeees. But, you weren't supposed to come back early, Kageyama! We were going to decorate everything, if you'd just followed the plan!"

"How was I supposed to know there was a plan?" Kageyama demanded. "I'm the one being surprised!"

"Well, are you?" Shouyou asked.

"Obviously!"

Shouyou squinted at him. "In a good way?"

Kageyama looked pointedly down at the ball of streamers at his feet. "Undecided."

He looked up again, and their eyes met. There was a glimmer there, in the blue depths of Kageyama's, layered underneath a challenge to Shouyou. There was something waiting for him to unravel it.

Shouyou grinned at him hopefully. "Let us help you make up your mind?"

Kageyama's lips pursed. He nodded. "Okay."

There hadn't been anything especially out of the ordinary planned for the party itself. Just lots of food and drink and mingling with friends, all of which Kageyama was more than familiar with, now. It was something they did often, between nights at the tavern, outings in town, and the many holidays and occasions that fell throughout the year that the village celebrated. Having everyone come together for Kageyama's birthday wasn't an unusual occurrence, other than the fact that it was the first birthday he'd celebrated there.

But for some reason, Kageyama seemed unable to relax. He was doing an admirable job of appearing, at the very least, outwardly calm, but Shouyou knew him well enough by now to catch the sharp edges; the set of his jaw, the tight grip on whatever he was holding. He wracked his brain, trying to think about what the problem could be.

"How's the food?" he asked.

"Good," Kageyama said immediately. "It's really good."

Shouyou preened, pleased. "They helped me put together the menu over at the tavern. Everybody had too many ideas, we ended up just trying to make a little of everything."

Kageyama frowned down at his plate. Not quite the reaction Shouyou had been expecting. "You asked them to help with today?"

"Well, yeah," Shouyou said. "I know I'm a pretty good cook, but there's no way I could've done it all myself. Plus some of this stuff is so complicated to make. Like those little bacon wrapped quails? Delicious, though!"

"They're really good," Kageyama said again. "How come you didn't just tell me you were going to have a party?"

"What? That would've ruined all the fun!" Shouyou said. "If you'd know the whole time, you would—"

"I would have been able to prepare myself!" Kageyama said, loudly. He glanced around in embarrassment, before lowering his voice. "I would've been able to—how am I supposed to thank everyone for this properly? I've got nothing ready, I—"

"Kageyama," Shouyou said, cutting him off, "it's a small thing. We can… write notes, or help people with some repair work, or have them over for dinner…"

"That's not enough," Kageyama said, glaring down at his plate of food. "They came because you asked them to. Even though they didn't have to. They helped, just because you asked."

Shouyou shook his head. "No… they helped because they _wanted_ to help. Because it's your birthday." But Kageyama still looked frustrated, now bordering on angry. Shouyou pinched his arm, hard enough to make him wince. "Hey… okay. Come on, let's go outside for a bit."

He didn't give Kageyama enough room to argue, strong-arming him through the store and outside into the chilly air. It was a bit too cold to be out there without their winter clothes, but it meant Kageyama would talk faster, at any rate. They both stood there, arms crossed, stamping their feet to keep warm.

"So?" Shouyou said. "Out with it. What's bothering you?"

Kageyama sighed, resigned. "You know that springing birthday parties on people is not a thing nobles do, right? I just wasn't expecting it, that's all."

"First of all, that's because nobles are no fun, unlike me," Shouyou said. "Second, I know there's something else going on. You've been strange since this morning. Like you just wanted to pretend it wasn't even your birthday."

Kageyama suddenly wouldn't meet his eyes, anymore. Shouyou squinted at him, long enough that he finally cracked.

"Alright, fine!" he said, teeth chattering as he threw up his arms. "You caught me."

"But _why?"_ Shouyou asked. "It's your birthday, we all have them!"

"Yes, but not everybody's is celebrated the same!" Kageyama burst out. "At the castle, there's rules! People _had_ to come to my parties, even if they didn't want to." He clamped his lips shut and then, like it was something he needed to get outside of himself, to release into the cold air:  _"_ _No one_ ever wanted to."

"Oh," Shouyou said softly. "Kage—"

"They used to—you know, because people came from farther away, it was customary to end things before it got dark," Kageyama said. "People… they used to say that the best part about my birthday was it came on the shortest—the shortest day of the year…"

He'd wrapped his arms so tightly around himself his entire back was hunched. Shouyou stepped right up to him and hugged him tightly, too.

"Okay. Okay, I understand now," he said, rubbing a hand over Kageyama's back. Kageyama shoved his face into his hair, breath huffing in and out harder than was generally normal. Shouyou didn't remark upon it. Instead, he hummed, and said, "You know? When I told some of the village it was your birthday today a couple weeks ago, I didn't even get to tell them what I wanted to do before they started planning without me?"

Kageyama burrowed his nose further into his hair. "They did?"

"They did! Rude, honestly," Shouyou said. "You're _my_ apprentice. I should get first say, in my opinion. But, in the end, it was good. I sort of…" He sighed. "It was supposed to be a bit better organized. I've never really tried to plan a party myself, before."

"I could tell," Kageyama said, and Shouyou jabbed his fingers into his side.

"There's so much food, though," Shouyou said. "And people brought instruments, and they _tried_ to keep you busy so we could set it all up. Everyone wanted today to be really good, Tobio. Not because of any rules. Just… because we wanted you to have a good birthday."

Kageyama nodded. "I know. And I want to make sure _they_ know that I know. But I'm not good at telling people…"

"You don't have to compose a speech," Shouyou said. "Just let yourself have _fun._ That's what we wanted."

Kageyama pulled back. "Can we go back inside now? It's fucking freezing out here."

When they went back inside, it was to their surprise that they found the entire place had been covered in blue streamers in their absence. Lev gave Shouyou a thumbs up from across the room, and Shouyou smiled at him gratefully. The music had started up, and Kageyama took a deep breath and then turned to him. Shouyou looked up at him curiously.

"Will you…" Kageyama cleared his throat. "Is it okay if we dance?"

Shouyou beamed at him. "Why do you think we wanted music?"

*

Nobody left the party before dark. It was getting quite late by the time all the festivities had wound down, and after that most people stayed behind to help them clean up the forge. It had been a good day, and a long one, and Shouyou could tell Kageyama was in a comfortable state of happy to say goodnight once the time came.

When the last guests had left, Shouyou, too, felt quite content now that he was able to pull Kageyama in for several long, pleased kisses. They were job-well-done kisses for them both; because in the end, Shouyou's party had been a success, and Kageyama had enjoyed himself. Shouyou could tell from the way he'd been able to let himself laugh.

"I don't mind today being a short day either, I think," he said. "It's okay that everyone leaves a little bit earlier if I get to spend more time with you."

"We spend most of our time together," Kageyama pointed out.

"Maybe, but I have something I wanted to give you!" Shouyou told him. He'd hidden it in their room before the party started so Kageyama wouldn't stumble across it on accident, and now he hurried over to the bed, pulling it from under the pillows triumphantly. "Ta-da!"

Kageyama took the gift from him. It was an iron sculpture, small enough to fit in his hands, and he turned it over, inspecting it. Finally, he looked back up at Shouyou.

"What is it?"

"You can't tell?!" Shouyou squawked.

True, detail work wasn't his forte. That was Kageyama's area of expertise, but Shouyou had wanted to work outside his comfort zone, to really make something special; something Kageyama wouldn't expect.

It seemed the plan may have backfired.

"Is it…" Kageyama squinted. "This part, is it a flower?"

"Why would I make you a _flower?"_ Shouyou asked, plaintively. "It can't be that hard to tell… guess again."

Kageyama squinted at it from another angle. "A horse."

"No."

The Lamb snapped his fingers. "An anvil!"

"Wrong."

"…Bokuto?"

"Why would I—no!"

Kageyama looked away quickly, lips twitching, and Shouyou glared.

"Alright, laugh about my efforts all you want," he said. "In case you actually _care,_ it's… a wolf." Kageyama's expression sobered slightly as he looked at it closer. Shouyou pointed out the tufted fur around its neck that Kageyama had mistaken for a flower.

"Why'd you put yourself through the trouble?" he asked. "We both know you're terrible at it."

"Yes, I know," Shouyou admitted. "I wanted to make you one you might like. I know you can't stand them, otherwise. Wolves, I mean."

"It looks nothing like a wolf," Kageyama said.

"Exactly," Shouyou said. He started to laugh, realizing how baffling it must seem to Kageyama. "So did it work?"

Kageyama set the misshapen sculpture down on the pillow. "No."

Before Shouyou could whine, he reached out, cupping the Wolf's face in his hands to stare down at him fondly. Shouyou huffed, avoiding his eyes deliberately even when Kageyama leaned down to rest their foreheads together.

"Well, I'll just try again, then," Shouyou told him with a shrug. "You'll have to man the shop and the forge, clearly I have work to do."

"It didn't work," Kageyama said, "because there's already one I like."

Shouyou snuck a glance back at him. "That doesn't mean much."

"It doesn't?"

"I could still try to make you like him even more."

He grabbed Kageyama's arms suddenly, without warning, and spun them both around quickly. Kageyama's legs hit the edge of the bed and he lost his balance, tumbling down onto it. Before he could regain his footing, Shouyou had planted a hand on his chest. Kageyama didn't attempt to resist. He licked his lips, lashes fluttering low.

"Him?"

"Mmm…" Shouyou murmured, as he leaned in closer, nosing along the underside of the Lamb's chin, over his jaw, the side of his neck. He smelled as good as ever, and the sharp scent of anxiety, his worries, were gone.

"It sounds as though you know this Wolf," Kageyama murmured, as Shouyou started to press soft kisses into his skin, mouthed at his throat when the Lamb tilted his head back.

"I suspect I might."

"Then you know," Kageyama said, "that I can't possibly like him anymore than I already do."

Shouyou blinked up at him, before pulling himself up onto his elbows, hovering his lips over Kageyama's. "There's always room for improvement," he said, before kissing Kageyama to stop him from arguing further.

He doubted either of them would mind trying to prove the other wrong.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [I'm [@esselley](http://esselley.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr, [@Esselle_hq](https://twitter.com/Esselle_hq) on Twitter]


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